Although in Selly Oak and aimed at students given the More card (formerly Yellow card, something…read morefondly remembered from my student days long long ago...) there's a mixed crowd here. They show most of the major sports events and the drinks selection is better than some bars in town, with standards as well as craft beers and cider. The food though is the winner for me. It's American style menu (which has changed in recent weeks) has plenty of options for the carnivore or vegetarian alike. The portions are generous. I'd recommend the house burger or the grilled cheese with salt beef. If you're extra hungry the deep fried gherkins are delish. Also best sweet potato fries I've had. Pool tables are available, there are long tables with charging points you can work at, printing services, self serve water and a great selection of snacks on the bar. There's a snug section for more quiet nights, but with late opening at the weekend the atmosphere is fab then too. The secret dj app provides the eclectic soundtrack too.

Good beer, good ciders, lovely food to good prices!…read more Yesterday I was in the Bristol Pear for the first time. Its a pub in a Students area, which means they have fitted the prices and choice of food / drinks to them. I had the chilly cheese burger. With every meal you got 5 different kind of sauces(free of charge) which are Ketchup, mayo, sticky tabasco, extra hot and something else I cant remember. I really appreciate it when the sauces are free of charge especially when they are spicy!!! I loved the location, they got many kinds of different lights and single seats but I still had the feeling everything is clean and tidy. I recommend this bar for young people.

I tend to be critical of chain pubs, often deservedly so. But I have a special place in my heart…read morefor The Soak, since it was the very first pub I visited after moving to the UK. The Soak (or S'Oak depending on where you look) falls under the Greene King banner, but it feels a lot more locally focused than many of their other pubs. Being a 10 minute walk from central campus, it's a student/faculty bar through and through. The Soak is in the heart of the UOB student community on Bristol Road in Selly Oak, set amongst several other pubs and a near endless row of takeaways. It's in an older building that looks thoroughly modern inside. There are plenty of tables and dining chairs, as well as some comfortable couches and lounge chairs available. In the back you'll also find pool tables, and there are several large TVs that regularly broadcast various sporting events. On tap you'll find a lot of the usual suspects for a chain pub, but besides Carling and Strongbow, Soak offers up some rotating real ales and bottled craft brews. One real ale tap in particular is dedicated to Greene King's special releases, such as their Purple Reign ale that commemorated Her Majesty's 90th birthday. There is a full bar, and just about everything is sold at reasonable prices. Real ale half pints run about £1.45, full pints between £2.5-3, and there are ongoing specials on liquor including four shots of fireball for £5. The food attempts to rise above a Wetherspoons while staying humble enough to not take on Nicholson's on price or quality. The menu is full of starters, small plates, burgers, hot dogs, various entrees, and more. They recently revamped the majority of the menu to include many new options. While their specialty burgers approach the £9 mark (including one with fried mac n' cheese as a topping), their basic burgers start at £5.79 and include fries and slaw. For a paltry £1 extra, you can add a pint to any burger purchased. There are plenty of options for vegetarians (not so much for vegans) on the menu, including a nice vegetarian burger that was completely overhauled with the new menu. If you are looking for a healthy veggie burger as an alternative to something greasier, this is not for you. The burger patty uses black beans, peppers, and jalapenos as its base. The patty core is injected with mozzarella and Red Leicester cheeses, and then coated on the outside with crushed nacho crumbs. It's an insane take on a veggie burger, and you'll be crying tears of joy when you take the first bite and the molten cheese core burns out your mouth! The sides, including fries, chips, onion rings etc. are typical pub frozen to fryer fare, but still not too bad in their own right. The service is pretty good, and with multiple staff behind the bar at any given time I have yet to experience a queue placing an order. Food wait times are average, and can top out around 20 minutes depending on your order. Ultimately the Soak is a great pub to drop in for a pint or a burger at a really good price. If you aren't a student or UOB staff/faculty, it's not a place I would seek out, but if you are in the area you'll find good pub food and service.

Service was quick and friendly. Everyone's food looked beautiful, as well. I ordered the butter…read morechicken and it was so delicious!!

Always popular, but never over-filled, The Country Girl is a great family pub located a little off…read morethe beaten track between Selly Oak and Stirchley. There is a great selection of food, and they do a particularly good Sunday lunch menu. There's loads of seating, including an external dining area. Service is prompt and the staff are very helpful and friendly. Even if you're not local, The Country Girl is well worth the trip. Most likely you'll be visiting by car, so luckily there's a large car park to accommodate you.

Only visit for drinks as it is an ok setting but the food and management are a joke. I visit…read morerecently for a Sunday beef dinner with my mum who is recovering from a heart attack. I have never been so disappointed. I could genuinely cook a better dinner with my eyes shut and they are supposed to be professionals. The beef was terrible, roast potatoes were not fresh but frozen ones and broccoli was over cooked by about 10 minutes (mush). They had ran out of basic condiments I requested and told me they were on order. Nobody clearly does a stock check to keep on top of things. I spoke to Sharon the manager who huffed and puffed in my face and stormed off mumbling under her breath, never to return. Unacceptable behaviour from a manager offering a service that is far from satisfactory.

Before they turned this place into a Goose pub, it was probably one of the better pubs in Selly…read moreOak. Sadly, times change and the OVT has been left in the dust by some of the newer, or simply more popular destinations in the area. For some, a pub that time forgot is a good thing. Unfortunately, when the period it's stuck in is not quite traditional enough to be charming, and not modern enough to impress, what you're left with is a pub that gets by on its prices and those who prefer a slightly quieter drink. It's not bad, per se, it's just average. Average drinks selection, average food... average everything. Worth a look if you're after a quiet drink, but it's far from exciting.

Poor service. Poor atmosphere. Best to visit the Bristol pear or the soak. Macdonald's is only up…read morethe road. Since current management place has home downhill.

Wow, mind = blown. Talk about doing the simple things perfectly. This is a totally unassuming,…read moretraditional looking pub with an incredible garden out the back and what I can only describe as one of the best Sunday lunches I've ever had. A pal lives round the corner in Bournville (at least he says its Bournville...) and has been raving about The Oak since its been done up. It's massively got a Prince/Dark Horse vibe now - complete with tiki bar (not open on Sunday's) and a wicked terrace for smokers and food, which is where we sat. The waiter was awesome - on his own, running around like a madman trying to keep everyone happy and doing a fine job of it. I was only ever heading for a beer Sunday dinner so didn't really need to look at the menu, which apparently is new as of last week. But it looked interesting nonetheless. I went beef, Em went chicken - our typical meat selections. When the plates came I was filled with glee - great portion sizes, loads of meat and 3 chunky roasties. The yorkie was like a cake - crumbly and delicious. The beef was cooked to perfection, pink and with a delicious salty finish. I was a little worried about the roasties as bigger cuts often aren't soft all the way through - delighted so say no such issues! Crispy outside, soft inside - perfect. The accompanying veg (cauli cheese and greens) were fab. I even ate the parsnip on the plate, which I promise you is a first for me. Good looking drinks selection too - Mad Goose was my choice for my only boozy beverage, but the fridges were well stocked with IPA's, lagers, ciders... This is a genuine, laid back and easy to love neighbourhood pub, with seemingly a renewed lease of life. We'll be coming back on many Sunday's in the future!

Power tip: quaint pub with an adjoining burger and fries stand. Good bacon burger, and both the…read morespiced and Alabama fries were tasty. Staff were friendly

As a whole, I thought the pub was pretty average. There wasn't particulary anything wrong with it,…read morenor was there anything particularly right. If you're looking for beer, food and somewhere to sit then this pub will do nicely. You don't need shiny decorations and glass tables to enjoy a quality drink with good old British grub. There were a lot of families here as the menu is pretty extensive and easy on the old purse strings. Although my chips were cold and the food took about 45 minutes to come, the waitress was apologetic and seemed harmless enough.

You know what, this place is OK. The first time I went in here I was a little apprehensive as I'm…read moreaware that 'local' pubs can often have that rather threatening atmosphere of "You're not from round these parts are you?...." I'd never been here before and it isn't my local. However, no need to worry. This is a pretty relaxed, easy-going kind of place with a mixture of people - including some families, so I was guessing that it didn't really matter that I wasn't a familiar face. People seemed pretty relaxed and the staff were all friendly. In terms of food & drink - it's pretty standard, which is fine. Kind of what you expect from a general British pub. To be honest, there's not a lot to write home about, but that means there's not a lot to complain about either. So if you're in the Selly Oak/ Weoley Castle neck of the woods, why not pop in if you fancy a simple pint and some pub grub. They definitely don't bite :)

What a little treat! I lived in Harborne with a group of friends for 6 months and I think we must…read morehave ended up in here nearly every Sunday afternoon during that time. I love nothing more than going to a classic pub to relax after a hard weeks work (and even harder partying on a Saturday night!). If you love venues that have lots of character then you should go and check out The Bell Inn. It used to be a coach house and it still has a number of its original characteristics. It's been closed for a while but it reopened last week on the 30th May so just in time for Jubilee weekend. It offers a great selection of beers for the boys and wine for the girls and the food in delicious. You can't beat their house burger and a nice cold shandy whilst sat outside in their garden area. My best recommendation, get down there on a Friday evening for 241 cocktails from 5pm!

Resembling a country pub with its bowling green and views of nearby St Peters Church, The Bell is…read moreprobably my favourite pub in Harborne. Popular at weekends and especially on sunny days it consists of two rooms - a medium sized lounge, where people tend to eat and a much smaller snug, that houses photos of the bowling team through the ages. The bar is tiny so during busier times expect to queue but service is generally pretty quick. As well as real ale The Bell offers regular guest bitters and lagers and they serve food - which is pretty decent and reasonably priced. They hold regular quiz nights and have started to offer acoustic and open mic nights. They are also one of the nicer pubs in Harborne open on Christmas Day and after a few pints you may be tempted to join in with an impromptu carol service! Well worth a visit.

Slap bang in the central of the student haven, that is Selly Oak, the Indie Lounge somewhat…read moresurprised me on my first visit, with its friendly yet relaxed atmosphere and top quality service, it fast developed into one of my favourite drinking spots in the area. Serving drinks at relatively cheap prices in comparison to other places nearer to town, Indie Lounge is a perfect stop on a pub crawl or even as a quick refueling point if you were to be heading into town. Abiding by the student budget, this bar is extremely popular with students who attend University this side of the midlands, with a healthy buzz without being too overcrowded, Indie Lounge is definitely worth a visit by anyone who is in the Selly Oak area.

Out of all the bars along the Selly Oak student strip, I would say that Indie Lounge is the place…read moreto drink if you are low on money as I find it is satisfyingly cheap. I personally love Indie Lounge, as the bouncers are extremely friendly, funny and easy to get along with as well as the staff members that work there which gives off a pleasing and an adequate welcoming to the bar. I find that the only down point to Indie Lounge is that they don't have a dance floor to match the great music they play, however, you will find customers (mainly girls) dancing regardless of this aspect. A further fact that I find negative, especially when consuming many drinks, is that the girls' toilets always lack toilet roll. So I would recommend before going to Selly Oak's Indie Lounge as a girl, bring a small pocket size pack of tissues. Other than these critiques, I would say that Indie Lounge is my second choice of bars along the Selly Oak student strip.

Urban Village aims to offer the people of Selly Oak something a little different, when it's mostly…read moremore of the same: Acting like a trendy club, when it's more appropriately a large bar hiding behind a nightclub's décor. Not that there's a problem with this at all, as more often than not it's the best place to end up if you don't quite feel like making the trip in the town to have a tragic night on Broad Street, but still feel like you might want to get up, dance and embarrass yourself at some point. On warmer nights, you can quite easily spend your whole night downstairs in the beer garden/smoking area/paradise island. The furniture and fountains are a little bit tacky, but it certainly makes for a nice change as opposed to all the intentionally, overly 'British vibe and homely furniture' pubs. Upstairs however, there is a generously sized bar and a large open space which roughly works out as three medium sized rooms. As you enter, on your right there is a fairly tucked away 'lounge' area, the bar straight ahead is fairly empty to accommodate the hordes of those queueing, and off to the left there is a kind of, neither here nor there room where they have just chucked everything else: Pool tables, foosball, a pinball machine, a few tables dotted around, and small-ish open space which acts as a sort of dance floor and a small stage which is where you might find DJs, or an unfortunate band playing. Urban serves all the usual drinks at a competitive price, and like most pubs in the area operates a kind of discount system which merely involves flashing a student card: OK for those still studying, but for anyone else it can leave you feeling a bit cold. Trying too hard to be too eclectic, Urban is definitely not suited to live band nights. Perhaps more of an afterthought, it is no better or no worse than any other 'venues' on the Bristol Road (I would argue that there are none, in principle). Having said that, a jazz band that turned up one night were actually quite good, mostly choosing to ignore the venue's lame setup and deciding to play acoustically. DJs on the other hand, are perfect for the small space and it also serves as a place for 'quizmaster Na$' to sit on Tuesday nights in the horrifically named pub quiz 'Lethal Quizzle'. I went once with a group of friends and we'd been answering consistently, but sadly lost to two girls who had definitely cheated. Ah well. Urban is usually packed, so it's definitely not the best place to try and watch any football - it's arguably too noisy and not suited to watching live sport and I'd recommend The Soak or The Bristol Pear instead if you're thinking about it. Monday nights see 'Pounded', where the drinks are even cheaper and the place is a heaving mass of eager pre-drinking students and the occasional dodgy local. While it can get messy, this is arguably Urban Village's niche in the Selly Oak area: A warm up zone for the terrible events that will unfold later after getting a taxi in to town, or at least a compromise for those wise enough to not take the risk of hitting Broad Street.

Urban prides itself of being Selly Oaks only bar, with little competition from the likes of the…read moreSoak and Goose where you compete with diners for seats. It's a little hard to find, sandwiched between 2 shops is the entrance alleyway which leads on to a patio area with heaters and a big screen for live sport. From there, up a set of stairs, and you'll reach the main area with the bar in front of you. Decor is little more than a black room, but on a Monday and Tuesday drinks are dirt cheap and you can often find a comfy sofa. A definite contender for a pre drinks spot, but not the place if you're at all interested in conversation due to the escalating noise.

Despite being gifted with a great frontage, a lovely garden and smoking area, as well as a…read morespacious open plan interior, the Three Horseshoes miserably fails to be anything more than average. It's rare for me to be so negative in a review, especially in the opening sentence but I really do struggle to find much positive to say about the place - the drink selection and the food are nothing unusual, the music that is played is soul crushingly bland as well as seeming to repeat every hour. The staff try their level best which I always appreciate but there's very little that can be done in this situation to elevate the experience to anything special or unusual. When I go out, the aim is to enjoy myself and usually I succeed. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite manage that in The Three Horseshoes.

I'm not a huge fan of this place, to be honest. Even though there are only a handful of pubs in the…read morearea - and that one of them is The Hibernian, which also isn't great - this pub would be the last one I would chose. As is often the case with a less-than-great boozer, it could be so much better. The building itself is a great, traditional pub and the location is superb - right in the middle of the gateway to Stirchley - but unfortunately the pub lacks any kind of soul. This might be to do with the fact that it is quite large inside, but there are plenty of big pubs that manage to retain a welcoming feel. In fact, it's hard to put your finger on what exactly is wrong with the place, but it just doesn't feel right to me. A shame, and perhaps it will change in time, but at the moment this place is just not for me.